Chapter 6
When I opened my eyes again, sterile light flooded my senses, and the scent of antiseptic stung my heightened nose. The beeping machines, the muffled footsteps beyond the curtain, the metallic tang of blood in the air-all of it told me exactly where I was.
The hospital.
I tried to move, but my limbs felt heavy as if my body itself mourned the truth before my mind. could catch up. My hand instinctively drifted to my lower belly, where warmth had once bloomed, fragile and hidden, but so very alive.
The doctor stepped forward, her face laced with regret and something else-pity.
“Ma’am,” she began gently, “your body has endured too much. You haven’t eaten for days. You collapsed from severe malnourishment, and the trauma… it was too much. I’m so sorry. You’ve lost the pregnancy.”
For a moment, I heard nothing-no beeping monitors, no heartbeat, not even the subtle hum of life that always hovered in the background when a wolf was near death or grief. Just silence.
Then, without warning, the tears came. Not sobs, not even broken gasps-just the silent, relentless streaming of sorrow down my face as I kept my palm pressed over the now-empty place inside me. A part of me-small, delicate, and unformed-had chosen to leave before ever tasting this world. Maybe it had sensed the chaos, the betrayal, the broken bond between its parents. Maybe it knew I had no strength left to protect it.
I felt the ache in my bones-the ache of a wolf who had lost her young. It was a grief unlike any other. Deeper than heartbreak. Sharper than rejection. My wolf whimpered within me, curled into herself, too shattered to howl.
“Ma’am,” the doctor continued, “you still need time to heal. Your body is weak. Your husband should be here with you-”
“I don’t have a husband,” I cut in, my voice raw and low. “Not anymore.”
She blinked, clearly startled by my tone. I cleared my throat, steeling myself as I asked, “What’s the shortest time I can stay?”
“At least three days,” she said. “Anything less would be dangerous.”
Three days. Just enough time for Riven to come for me.
That would be enough.
But before the doctor could reply further, the door to the ward flew open. The scent of pine, power, and betrayal rushed in with the gust of cool air. Alpha Darius stormed into the room, his Beta right behind him. His eyes scanned me with a strange mix of relief and guilt, though it barely registered beneath the weight of everything he had done. `
“Why are you here?” I asked flatly.
The driver beside him stepped forward to explain, but I didn’t let him speak. “I collapsed because I hadn’t eaten in days. My body gave out.”
From behind Darius, Lexie’s voice sliced through the room like poisoned fangs. “Avelyn, it’s not like you came from nobility. We both know you’ve been through worse. When did you become so
Chapter 6
8:56 pm DDG M
weak?”
Her mockery wasn’t worth responding to. I turned my face away, but Darius approached, his expression softening when he saw how pale and fragile I looked.
“When did you become so stubborn?” he asked, his tone oddly gentle. “Admitting you were wrong wouldn’t have killed you.”
My lip curled slightly. Wrong? For defending myself? For being his wife while his mistress flaunted my nightgown?
“And if you were unwell,” he added, “why didn’t you call me?”
I didn’t answer right away. The silence that followed was louder than any argument.
Call him.
He, who had ordered the maids to starve me? He, who had watched me crumble without blinking? He, who was too busy feeding Lexie grapes and fucking her on my territory while I withered away?
But there was no point in dragging the truth into the light. I was leaving soon. I didn’t need to be right-I only needed to be free.
“You were busy,” I said instead, my voice smooth, emotionless. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”
For the briefest moment, something flickered in his eyes-regret, maybe regret, or shame. But it didn’t last. Not enough to matter.
He started visiting after that. Once each day. Sitting by my bedside, silent or trying to have a light conversation. I let him. Not because I wanted him there, but because I wanted to remember -remember the face of the Alpha who once held my heart and shattered it without a second thought.
On the morning of my discharge, I sat by the window with my phone in hand, texting Riven
Ashton.
Alpha Darius glanced over. He frowned.
“You’ve been on your phone a lot lately,” he said, his tone carefully neutral. “Who are you texting?”
When he reached for it, I pulled it away without hesitation. “Really, Alpha? You need to read private conversations between girls now?”
He stiffened, withdrawing his hand like I’d burned him.
Enough. We’re heading home.”
I nodded, offering no resistance.
Back at the pack house, he left soon after. Just as I knew he would.
Inside, I walked into the study-the place where I once organized Council records, wrote strategy plans and penned love letters I never sent. I opened the hidden drawer of the safe and placed the hospital report on top of the folded parchment of my resignation and the crisp, cold divorce agreement. Then, I reached for my notebook and opened it to the last page.
I picked up the pen. My hand didn’t shake.
[100th disappointment: I lost my child.]
Chapter 6
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8:57 pm DDG M.
One hundred. A cruel number. One for every wound he had given me without flinching. One for every smile I faked hiding the hurt. One for every howl I’d swallowed in the dead of night.
I closed the notebook.
A miscarriage report. A resignation letter. A divorce agreement. And one hundred grief-soaked
memories.
That was my anniversary gift to the cruel Alpha of the Nightshade Pack.
After cleaning everything, I rolled my suitcase to the door. I left the pack house’s keys on the dining table. I walked to the security panel and erased my fingerprint from the smart lock.
Before I left, I made sure that every trace of me was gone.
Not a scent, not a belonging, not a single thread of my presence remained.
Let them have the house. Let Lexie wear my robes, sit in my seat, and sleep in my bed.
But she would never wear my strength.
And he would never touch my soul again.
Because I was done being the she wolf, they walked over.
I was done being Darius’s secret Luna.
At least I know now, somewhere out there, away from this pack…
My almost love is waiting for me.
Charterh
